Tag: health

Earlier this month, Michael Simon, President and CEO of rights management company Harry Fox Agency (HFA), was taking an on-demand indoor cycling class with Peloton when the instructor started playing a song that Simon had never heard before, by a band he hadn’t had the chance to explore in greater depth.

The song was “Gettin’ Tighter” by iconic hard-rock band Deep Purple, from their 1975 album Come Taste the Band—the perfect addition to a ‘70s rock-themed workout.

Imagine visiting a doctor for the first time. If you’re suffering from weight issues and seeking help with your exercise and eating habits, it’s only natural to fear you’ll get harangued with judgment. You may anticipate questions like “What do you eat?” and “How often do you exercise?”

But thanks to a new wave of physicians versed in culinary medicine, you’re more likely to hear this question: “What do you like to eat?”

“I think patients are afraid to talk about what they’re eating for fear they’ll be judged or scolded,” says Dr. Brian Nagle, a resident at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Seven years ago, Max Lugavere was sitting at the dinner table when he asked his mother to pass the salt. The simple request should have take a fraction of a second, but it took his mother three or four. Those were the first signs that something was wrong. Within a few months, he and his brother found out that their mother had a form of dementia that was slowly decimating her cognitive functions.

Lugavere spent the next decade trying to understand what led this otherwise healthy woman to develop dementia, and if he was also at risk through some hereditary characteristic. Using his skills as a journalist, Lugavere traveled the world to track down experts who could shed some light and learned that the biggest contributor to his mother’s condition may have come from an unexpected source–food.

When it comes to food, there are countless theories about what’s healthy and unhealthy. However, as Lugavere soon discovered, even people who called themselves experts, often don’t use evidence-based research and are under trained on nutrition. Partnering with doctors and researchers, Lugavere created an evidence based owner’s manual for the human brain and food called Genius Foods, co-written with internal medicine physician and weight loss expert Paul Grewal, MD.

Lugavere’s research uncovered that these three foods are silent killers:

Music therapy has the power to help and heal people in all walks of life. Sometimes it is needed to give someone a boost mentally, physically or emotionally. For one young man living in Austin, music has helped him learn to communicate and find his voice like never before.

In the latest episode of the sixth season of Adorama’s Through the Lens, the focus is on photographer Kathryn Dyer. Sacramento-based Dyer first forayed into the world of Instagram and became more serious about photography when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her husband bought a camera for them to share and take Kathryn’s mind off her battle with cancer through nature photography sessions.

When we were kids, art time was often the best part of grammar school. Who didn’t enjoy coloring, drawing, painting, and cutting-and-pasting? It was fun, relaxing, and you got a wonderful euphoric feeling from creating something you made. We need to get back to that child activity. It turns out that making art can be a powerful therapeutic tool for adults, especially in the treatment and management of pain. Called art therapy, this type of psychotherapy can help modify your response to emotional and physical problems related to pain.

“Art therapy does not replace the need for pain medication, but it can be used as an effective complement and reduce perceptions of pain experiences,” says Kelsey A. Skerpan, an art therapist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. “It can help people better manage the symptoms of stress and anxiety that accompany pain, which assists with the recovery process and improves quality of life.”

Eating out as a vegan can difficult. Salads get boring and sandwiches stuffed with lettuce and not much else are bland and unappetizing. Luckily, popular fast food chains like Taco Bell and Domino’s have started catering to a vegan-specific audience. Although the options are limited, this is a delicious step in the right direction.

We rounded up some of the vegan options you can take advantage of at your favorite chains.